Playing card holder



Jan. 9, 1951 G w, HASSELL 2,537,461

PLAYING CARD HOLDER Filed Jan. 10, 1950 /o m fZB I4" QIHHIIIIIIIIII! l II lIIIIIH nm! //8 26 M AZ IHFH HIIIIHIIIZlllllllllllfllfl IN VEN TOR.

650265 N Haws Patented Jan. 9, 1 951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PLAYINGCARD HOLDER George William Hassell, Oklahoma City, Okla.

Application January 10, 1950, Serial No. 137,733 2 Claims. (01. 273-148)This invention relates to improvements in playing card boxes or holdersadapted particularly for such card games as canasta or rummy wherein aplaying stack and a discard stack are employed.

It is an object of the invention to provide a multi-compartmentreceptacle for playing cards of great convenience to the players in thatthe various stacks of cards may be maintained in order and action of thegame materially expedited.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a playing card holderconstructed and arranged so as to facilitate ready insertion andwithdrawal of the cards while maintaining the same in separate stackswhereby materially to expedite action of the game.

In its specific aspects, the invention contemplates the provision of aplaying card holder having associated therewith a pivoted support for astack of cards which will permit the stack to be tilted from ahorizontal to an upright position from which latter position the stackmay be withdrawn quickly and in its entirety.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings wherein a preferred embodiment of theprinciples of the invention has been selected for exemplification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of a playing card holder constructed in accordancewith the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the device shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational View partly broken away andshowing the pivoted card supporting members in upright position forwithdrawal of the cards.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like numerals referto like parts, the box holder indicated in its entirety at In may,

in the preferred form of the invention, be molded from transparent ortranslucent plastic material.

Holder ID is provided with an integral bottom wall l2, upright side andend walls l4 and [6, respectively, and an upright partitioning wall l8disposed transversely to divide the holder ll! into compartments 20 and22 for reception of the discard and playing card stacks, respectively.

The compartments 20 and 22 are novelly constructed and designed tofacilitate insertion and drawal of the stack of discards in itsentirety.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the discards are intended to rest upon a falsebottom composed, in a preferred form of the invention, of a plurality offingers 24 which in their lowermost position rest upon a portion of thebottom wall !2. Fingers 24 are supported by and project laterally froman elongated U-shaped shaft 26 which extends transversely of thecompartment 28 and exteriorly of the opposed side walls [4 through theapertures 21.

For pivotally elevating the fingers 24 into the upright position shownin Fig. 3 and also for returning the same to horizontal position forreceiving the discards, the protruding angular extremities of theU-shaped shaft 26 are provided with enlarged portions 28 forming crankhandles. It will be seen that the fingers 24 and supporting shaft 26 arepreferably disposed inwardly of the adjacent side wall It a distancesufficient to aiford space for receiving the edges of the upright stackof cards, as apparent from Fig. 3.

In the ordinary use and operation of the device as herein shown anddescribed, the receptacle I9 is placed on a table between the playerswith the fingers 24 in the horizontal position shown in Figs. 1 and 2and the playing cards inserted in a face downward stack in compartment22. Such insertion as well as withdrawal of the cards is greatlyfacilitated by the card grasping recesses provided in the upright wallsl4, l6 and I8 which define the compartment 22. As the game progresses,the discards are assembled in a stack upon the supporting fingers 24 incompartment 29 as indicated in Fig. 2. Upon completion of the game orwhen it is desired to withdraw the pile of discards the handle members28 are pressed downwardly into the position shown in Fig. 3 wherebysimultaneously to tiltv 3 space between the upright supporting members24 and the remaining fingers.

It is understood that the present invention is not confined to theprecise construction and arrangement of parts as herein illustrated anddescribed but embraces all such modified forms as come within the scopeof the following claims.

I claim:

1. Playing card apparatus comprising a receptacle, a shaft extendingtransversely of saidreceptacle" and journal'ed in opposed end wallsthereof, a plurality of spaced card supporting fingers integral withsaid shaft and extending radially outwardly thereof within saidreceptacle and a crank extremity for said shaft pro-- jecting outwardlyof one of said endwall's for" tilting said fingers and the cardssupported thereby between substantially horizontal and verticalpositions.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shaft and card'supportingfingers are pivoted on an axis adjacent one of the side walls of thereceptacle whereby the cards in Vertical position are 5 supportedbetween said adjacent side wall and the vertically tilted finger.

GEORGE WILLIAM HASSELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 15 1,184,196 Michell May 23, 19162100131 8 Nevins May 21, 1935 2,308,284 Ibach Jan. 12, 1943 2,503,833Miller Apr. 11, 1950

